Some agencies of the federal government have learned that a “carrot and stick” approach often works. Proposed changes in the Clean Water Act by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) amount to “stick and bigger stick.”

Sometimes you see the “carrot” in enforcement of the Endangered Species Act. Things like Safe Harbor and habitat mitigation mean having a species does not force landowners out of business. Then, other things become possible.

The EPA will move forward with a vast expansion of the agency’s regulatory power with changes in the Clean Water Act. Perhaps as an olive branch, EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently announced the withdrawal of their waters of the U.S. “interpretive rule.”

It is my great honor to be selected president of Texas Farm Bureau by the voting delegates at our Corpus Christi convention. As that all sinks in, I’m eager to get started. We have a big job ahead, and there are many challenges.

To start with, it’s a legislative year. As a farmer, I know about taking care of the land and preparing the ground for a new crop. In only a few days, our elected representatives will return to Austin. That in itself is challenging, and we have to be ready. We will study the issues and develop relationships with state officials. Many of them have never been part of state government before. Others are now in a completely different role.

I always heard that the only thing sure in life is death and taxes and you can be assured your estate will be taxed to death if it’s big enough when you die.

That’s why a headline in a recent American Farm Bureau Federation news release caught my attention. It noted that estate taxes are ripe for repeal with 218 co-sponsors—more than half of the House of Representatives—on board for legislation to permanently repeal the estate tax.

On a recent trip to SeaWorld in San Antonio, my family and I witnessed a display of protest against the company for its practices. Those protestors claimed SeaWorld used practices that are cruel to the animals they house.

But what about all of the animals they save? If they hadn’t been rescued by SeaWorld, they probably wouldn’t have survived in a wild habitat.

A couple of years ago on a Texas Farm Bureau Young Farmer & Rancher Fall Tour, we had the opportunity to take a “behind the scenes” tour of the San Antonio facility. We saw the tanks they use for rehabilitation and performance shows. It was pretty amazing.